The eruption of hot, high pressure gases from a gun barrel when a gun is fired is commonly referred to as muzzle blast. Muzzle blast is typically composed of an inner core of hot gases and partially burned particulate matter (e.g. unburned powder) emanating along a longitudinal axis extending out from the muzzle of the gun barrel. As a projectile exits from the muzzle, the hot gases rapidly expand outwardly into the surrounding air, mixing with the surrounding air and forming an oblique shock structure known as a “shock bottle.” The unburned particulate may ignite upon mixing with the oxygen-rich surrounding air. The result is that the inner core of hot gases and the burning particulate within the shock bottle produces a bright flash of light in both the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum.
In battle, muzzle blast may have serious adverse consequences. It is known that muzzle blast may be used by friend and foe alike to locate the position of a concealed soldier, artillery piece, or other gun emplacement, particularly during night operations. It is also known that for certain sighting systems, muzzle blast from a gun may adversely impact the gun's own sighting system. For these and other reasons, the desire to suppress the bright flash associated with muzzle blast has long been known, and a variety of suppressor devices have been developed for this purpose, including, for example, the flash suppressors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,328 issued to A'Costa, U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,764 issued to Sherman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,609 issued to Davies, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,161 issued to Sommers.
Although some success has been achieved using prior art suppressor devices, there is room for improvement. For example, some conventional devices are not fully effective suppressors and only partially attenuate the bright flash associated with the muzzle blast. Other devices may initially perform satisfactorily, but tend to lose their effectiveness as multiple rounds are fired from the gun, such as for a machine gun. Therefore, a continuing need exists for an improved flash suppressor.